Month: July 2012

Not sure who to vote for in the Poetry category of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards? Or you’re simply curious about the nominated books? Here’s some information and reviews about the books. We hope this helps you vote, and pick up some of the nominees to read for yourself. :)

Under the Storm: An Anthology of Contemporary Philippine Poetry by Khavn de la Cruz and Joel M. Toledo
(2011, Antithesis Collective)

A compilation of 150 poems from an eclectic mix of poets.

Reviews:

“With this eclectic mix of poems in various styles and techniques, Under the Storm holds a lot of promise within its 360something pages.” – Yuppie Universe

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The El Bimbo Variations (3rd ed) by Adam David
(2010, The Youth and Beauty Brigade)

To write ninety-nine versions of a single line sounds like the idle boast of a literary geek in response to a drunken dare. Though endearing in its brain-over-brawn daredevilry, it smacks of absurdity, the chances of its successful execution slim. Up the ante—pick a line from a well-known and well-loved song, one that hardly needs rewriting to begin with—and the stage is set for the author of the boast to lose the bet, ending up naked, injured, or broke instead. Unless, that is, the literary geek in question is Adam David, who, in writing The El Bimbo Variations, turns what might be dismissed as a harebrained idea into a hilarious, thought-provoking read.

Reviews:

“I don’t know what this is — a mishmash of lyrics, impressions, dream fragments, quirky one-liners, social propaganda, comics, witticisms, etc. — but I’m liking it in a way I’ve never liked a book before.” – Kristine Muslim (Goodreads)

“The El Bimbo Variations will have something in store for you, regardless of how much effort you choose to put into it. If you’re merely looking for a good laugh, it’s there. If you want exhilarating new poetry, that’s there, too.” – Coffeespoons

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Not sure who to vote for in the Novel in Filipino category of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards? Or you’re simply curious about the nominated books? Here’s some information and reviews about the books. We hope this helps you vote, and pick up some of the nominees to read for yourself. :)

“Very fresh approach in storytelling. Asenjo is said to be one of the new voices in Philippine literature.” – KD (Goodreads)

“Perhaps to call a “Filipino feminist novel” brave and beautiful is redundant, for it is imperative for a Filipino feminist novel to be brave and beautiful….But I think being redundant in this aspect is forgivable.” – GMA News Online

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Not sure who to vote for in the Novels in English category of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards? Or you’re simply curious about the nominated books? Here’s some information and reviews about the books. We hope this helps you vote, and pick up some of the nominees to read for yourself. :)

“News of the Shaman” collects four novellas of the dark fantastic from Filipino horror scribe Karl R. De Mesa, author of the cult hit “Damaged People – Tales of the Gothic-Punk.”

These interlaced stories take us deep into the lightless labyrinth, from the feet of a vampire queen presiding over her court of eternal night, a band possessed and haunted by the music of their friend, to a city ruled by a shaman turned eco-terrorist.

Biblio-ghouls, you won’t want to miss this one.

Reviews:

“Unlike the regular horror story, De Mesa’s novellas defy easy categorization. What sets them apart from the usual neo-goth/new weird stories is their inherent Filipino sensibility. Discussing Filipino Paganism and old belief systems…the novellas posit a different approach to resuscitating the old Filipino myths and the belief systems of our ancestors before Christianity seeped through every inch of our culture.” – Philippine Online Chronicles

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Sometimes, we are in the mood for a full length novel, but other times, we just need something short and bite-sized to get our fill of fiction. Short story anthologies are obviously the best thing for this kind of need, and as it turns out, we have a lot of that here! Here are the nominees for the short story anthology category of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards! :)

“…you will not help but feel that it was a team effort in their part to make you proud to be a Filipino, excite you while you dabble in the genre, and entertain you as an intelligent leader no less.” – Jofer Serapio (Goodreads)

“PSF 6 succeeds in presenting a varied landscape of current SFF writing in the Philippines.” – Fanarchist Reading Blog

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Not sure who to vote for in the Comics / Graphic Novels category of the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards? Or you’re simply curious about the nominated books? Here’s some information and reviews about the books. We hope this helps you vote, and pick up some of the nominees to read for yourself. :)

In this memoir about “becoming an individual”, Tweet Sering risks the pain of scrupulous self-examination for an important prize: self-knolwedge.

By turn sharply funny, intelligent, poutspoken, but also pained and bewildered, Sering’s go-for-broke account of her journey reminds us of late night chats with our favorite friend and shines with a desire to cheers us on into our own journeys of besing an Astigirl.

Reviews:

“While reading the book you’ll feel connected to her and her story because you know that, like you, she’s going through all sorts of shit too. She makes you feel as if you’re not alone.” – Greetings… From Here, There

“If this were still a blog, I would have subscribed to it and treat it like a bible.” – Zara’s nth blog